Dell calls iPod a 'fad', dismisses Mac mini

[Mac Reporter]

Dell has questioned Apple's long-term business strategy, dismissing the iPod as a "fad" and a "one-product wonder" and claiming the new Mac mini won't dent the PC market.

In an interview with silicon.com at Dell's Round Rock headquarters in Texas last week, CEO Kevin Rollins said the number of headlines Apple grabs does not worry him and that the company isn't "in the same league" as Dell.

Full article here.



[Edited on 1-18-2005 by Mac Reporter]

[sinch]

Ho-hum.. Sourgrape.

[Eric]

What a funny thing to say coming from a guy who's company produces run-of-the-mill beige/black boxes. I agree that Apple isn't in the same league though.

Since its inception, Apple has been the industry's innovator, consistently creating ways to improve our computing experience. Its competitors though, were always ready to adopt these innovations. A lot of standards adopted by the PC manufacturers were either adopted by Apple first or invented by them.

Here's a list of Apple firsts:

Apple was the first PC company to ship a PC.

Apple was the first PC company to ship computers w/ expansion slots.

Apple was the first PC company to ship computers w/o expansion slots.

Apple was the first personal computer company to ship a computer with a color screen.

Apple was the first personal computer company to make a portable.

Apple was the first pc company to ship computers w/ SCSI.

Apple was the first pc company to ship computers w/ built-in networking.

Apple was the first personal computer company to ship laser and inkjet printers.

Apple was first to ship a personal computer with a floppy drive. In fact, they invented the floppy drive.

Apple was first to ship a personal computer without a floppy drive.

Apple was first to ship a personal computer with a CD-Rom drive.

Apple was first to ship a personal computer with a DVD-R drive.

Apple invented the trackpad (PC users were using a trackball or red nubby).

Apple invented FireWire.

Apple was first to offer wireless networking in a personal computer.

Apple invented True Type fonts (now a PC standard).

Apple invented the PDA (remember the Newton?).

Apple was first to allow use of multiple monitors.

Apple was first to use icons or pull-down folders.

Apple was first to do away with CRTs and use only flat panel displays.

Apple was first to release a 64-bit processor in a consumer machine.

Apple invented the hard drive-based music player.

Apple invented the first truly viable online music store.

Feel free to add to the list.

[Edited on 1-18-2005 by Eric]

[Polar Mac]

CEO Kevin Rollins pf DELL and CEO mr. Hoo of Creative can comment all they want.... :dry: They just can't seem to get through their thick skulls that Apple is better than them.... and people like apple products/software/hardware because they just work!!! being made by apple is a just a plus.. but it all comes down to performance

[dlim]

Apple invented beautiful computers!

[Jiru-chan]

Wow, ang dami pala ang na-invent ng Apple! Thanks for the info, Eric! :beer:

Hmm... I wonder if Dell and the word "innovation" could ever be used in one sentence. :evil:

[Edited on 1-18-2005 by Jiru-chan]

[emiaj]

Pakialam namin sa Dell...pa-gwuapuhan na lang ng CEO.
Saka magaganda at pogi ang mga Mac Users. :P

[sascoordinator]

Hindi lang kasi matanggap ng Dell na bababa ang sales nila dahil sa mac mini. :lol:

[Maccess]

Dell iis probably Apple's only real competitor. With IBM throwing in the towel on PCs, Digital and Compaq gone, and HP restructuring their PC business, Dell is the only remaining PC company with decent operating margins.

What many don't get is that Apple has the best operating margins in the industry. Market share is really not an issue in an industry so big that 1 percentage point is billions of dollars in sales. IBM was the number 3 PC maker, yet it threw in the towel because it was losing money on every PC it made.

Dell succeeds only because they have efficient manufacturing plants, yet all that doesn't amount to much with Apple's current strategy: to be a lifestyle brand like Sony. No PC company can ever own a "brand" like Apple.

What are Apple's biggest hits? the iPod? - it's not a computer. The iMac? It's a digital hub. The Mac Mini? it's a little box that can do a lot- a home movie player, a digital jukebox, a personal media center, and of course a computer.

So, while Dell may be celebrating their dominance of the PC industry, perhaps they should look to see if their strategy is a lot less long term than they think. The days of the PC are over, sure we'll have computers in the future, but they won't be computers to us, they'll be lifestyle devices.

[Maccess]

Just a few historical notes and add ons.

Originally posted by Eric
What a funny thing to say coming from a guy who's company produces run-of-the-mill beige/black boxes. I agree that Apple isn't in the same league though.

Since its inception, Apple has been the industry's innovator, consistently creating ways to improve our computing experience. Its competitors though, were always ready to adopt these innovations. A lot of standards adopted by the PC manufacturers were either adopted by Apple first or invented by them.

Here's a list of Apple firsts:

Apple was the first PC company to ship a PC.

Actually, no: Altair and IMSAI were the first. But the Apple II was the first PC useable by non-geeks

Apple was the first PC company to ship computers w/ expansion slots.
The S-100 bus predates Apple IIs by a couple of years.

Apple was the first PC company to ship computers w/o expansion slots.

Try the Sinclair Z80

Apple was the first personal computer company to ship a computer with a color screen.

The Sinclair Z80 supported color

Apple was the first personal computer company to make a portable.
And what a Portable it was: 16 pounds! The Osborne was one of the first PC portables, first built in 1982. Compaq also made portables as early as 1985. In fact, Apple was one of the LAST major computer companies to make a portable computer, but after the Mac Portable fiasco, they turned around and created the award winning Powerbook (100, 140, 170) series.

Apple was the first pc company to ship computers w/ SCSI.

True. The Mac Plus used a pre-final SCSI 1 spec.

Apple was the first pc company to ship computers w/ built-in networking.

True.

Apple was the first personal computer company to ship laser and inkjet printers.

Canon was the first. The LaserWriter was a Canon printer with an Apple skin. But, Apple popularized DTP, which gave Laser Printers their reason for being.

Apple was first to ship a personal computer with a floppy drive. In fact, they invented the floppy drive.

Sony invented the MicroFloppy. the earlier 5 1/4 floppy drives and even earlier 8" floppy drives were around long before Apple shipped its first computer. What Steve Wozniak invented was a way for personal computers to access floppy drives using much cheaper controllers. (Instead of synchronizing the CPU and the drive, he just set up a data queue so the CPU and drive could run asyncrounously)

Apple was first to ship a personal computer without a floppy drive.

Yes, the iMac was the first PC without a built-in floppy drive (not counting embedded PCs)

Apple was first to ship a personal computer with a CD-Rom drive.

Yes, more or less. It was a bit late getting CD drives into laptops (they had to adopt the IDE interface for Macs first)

Apple was first to ship a personal computer with a DVD-R drive.

Apple invented the trackpad (PC users were using a trackball or red nubby).

I don't think so.

Apple invented FireWire.

Yep. That's an Apple Invention. USB was an Intel invention that was languishing without any USB peripherals being made before Apple used it in the iMac.

Apple was first to offer wireless networking in a personal computer.

Built-in? probably. but wireless networking has been around as an add-on device that plugs into either the serial, parallel or Ethernet ports since 1992.

Apple invented True Type fonts (now a PC standard).

Apple, together with Microsoft, created TrueType in response to a threat from Adobe to increase the license fees for Postscript.

Apple invented the PDA (remember the Newton?).

...resulting in the termination of John Sculley, and the suicide of one of its engineers.

Apple was first to allow use of multiple monitors.

...yes, the Mac OS actually queries the hardware, unlike Windows which makes assumptions on the hardware it is installed in. this is why a computer like a IIci can run OSs from 6.0.3 to 7.6.1 - which is like finding a PC that will run Windows 2.0 all the way to windows 98.

Apple was first to use icons or pull-down folders.

Apple was first to do away with CRTs and use only flat panel displays.

Apple was first to release a 64-bit processor in a consumer machine.

Surprise! Nintendo was the first!

Apple invented the hard drive-based music player.

...and made a killing in the process.

Apple invented the first truly viable online music store.

True. No one except Apple could have done it

Feel free to add to the list.

[Edited on 1-18-2005 by Eric]